Owl’s Outstanding Donuts won’t be out until September 3, but you can pre-order a copy through your local bookstore on IndieBound.org!!

OWL’S OUTSTANDING DONUTS is “a story full of mystery, feathers, and sprinkles. After Mattie Waters loses her mother, she goes to live with her aunt, the owner of a roadside donut shop in Big Sur, California. When an owl taps on Mattie’s window one night, Mattie looks out to see something suspicious taking place nearby. With help from her friends–and from Alfred, a stuffy but good-hearted owl–she’ll set out to find the culprits, facing fears that have followed her since her mother’s death.”

I can’t wait for you all to meet Mattie and Alfred and would love to support our beautiful, local, brick and mortar bookstores!

On WRAD I’ll be reading from my books, giving sneak peaks into new projects, and recommending some of my favorite titles from other authors. And I’ll always answer student questions! If you would like to schedule a Skype visit just send me an email after checking my availability listed below: robin@blueeggbooks.com.

THEY JUST KNOW: ANIMAL INSTINCTS would be a great choice for lower elementary classes. To read a sample, PEEK HERE!

THE MIDNIGHT WAR OF MATEO MARTINEZ would work best for grades 2-6. To read the first chapter, PEEK HERE!

OWL’S OUTSTANDING DONUTS (Coming Fall/2019) would be a fabulous choice for classes that don’t mind a pretty long cliffhanger!

WILD CARD – I have shelves full of favorite books, written by other amazing authors, from picture books to middle grade novels that I’m always excited to share.

My current availability is listed below. If Friday gets filled, or another day would work better, I’m happy to schedule something with your class at another time. Happy reading!

I’m happy to share my new book news from Publisher’s Weekly!

Can’t wait for readers to meet Mattie and Alfred!!

❤ Robin

A couple weeks ago Jill Diamond and I presented a workshop at #NCTE17 on middle grade fiction. It was a thrill to be surrounded by teachers and librarians, our champions for books and reading!

Jill and I created two printable reflection tools that can be used with ANY book, not just ours. The first is a tool to compare and reflect on characters, the second is a tool to internalize the plot of a book by geographically mapping it.

The idea that has stayed with me since presenting, the one I want to try to share here, is that reading and writing are inverse operations, like addition and subtraction, multiplication and division, they flow into and out of each other. The tools of reflection Jill and I created can also become prewriting work for students, helping them to create their own characters and map out their own plots.

These are absolutely activities that authors regularly engage in when cultivating their own stories. I create little dossiers for my characters, I compare them with their friends and to myself to know them more deeply before I write their stories. I draw their portraits and illustrate their rooms. I doodle maps of their neighborhoods and schools. Stories are scrapped together in the accumulation of all those doodles and reflections!

On WRAD I’ll be reading from my books, giving sneak peaks into top secret projects, and recommending some of my favorite titles from other authors. And I’ll always answer student questions! If you would like to schedule a Skype visit just send me an email: robin@blueeggbooks.com.

THEY JUST KNOW: ANIMAL INSTINCTS would be a great choice for lower elementary classes. To read a sample, PEEK HERE!

THE MIDNIGHT WAR OF MATEO MARTINEZ would work best for grades 2-6. To read the first chapter, PEEK HERE!

My current availability is listed below. If Thursday gets filled, I’m happy to schedule something with your class at another time. Happy reading!

But I’m doing it anyway, blowing my little kazoo, because it can also feel pretty good!

And then, get this, The New York Public Library said it too. That my book was one of the best of 2016 for kids. I can’t help but think of my elementary school librarian (Mrs. DeFirmian) and the way that she would help me find that next perfect book. Now, in New York City, maybe some librarian is helping a kid find my book.

I hope it makes them laugh like a kazoo zoo-zoo-zooing in the middle of the library.

Last week the 2016 Moonbeam Children’s Awards were announced and THE MIDNIGHT WAR OF MATEO MARTINEZ won the gold medal in the Pre-Teen Historical & Cultural category! The Moonbeam Awards committee honors books “that inspire our children to read, to learn, and to dream,” and I never dreamed I’d win one.

It is beyond and honor, but I have to admit to being most excited about the shiny gold stickers… but I just don’t know where I would put them on such a pretty cover.